The Walmart Foundation has awarded IREX  $1.5 million over 18 months to launch the second phase of Ambulantes, a program that supports agricultural migrant workers in Mexico. Through partnership with trusted local organizations and community collaboration, the Ambulantes program delivers information on safe migration within Mexico to migrants and their families.

This funding enables the program to sustain its valuable partnership to strengthen migrant-serving local organizations and government actors, enhancing their capacity to provide supportive and protective services for migrant workers. By focusing on building accessible, coordinated, and gender equality and social inclusion (GESI)-informed services in communities of origin, IREX aims to address migrants' vulnerabilities and specific challenges, particularly those faced by women and indigenous communities. “IREX is immensely grateful for this support from the Walmart Foundation, which allows us to expand our impact and drive positive change for agricultural migrant workers within Mexico”, said Kristin Lord, President and CEO of IREX. “This continued support for Ambulantes acknowledges the effectiveness of collaboration and innovation and propels us forward in our mission to create more just prosperous, and inclusive societies.”

During its first phase, the Ambulantes program supported IREX’s partners to better understand the specific risks that internal migrants face, and helped IREX and partners to identify additional types of interventions and supportive services that are now being prioritized under phase two. These include filling gaps in information on safe migration through Spanish and indigenous language community radio programming and participation in assemblies in migration communities of origin; providing trainings and support for migrant support-focused civil society organizations to offer more sustainable services; and ensuring local authorities and safe migration stakeholders have access to up-to-date information on challenges reported by internal agricultural migrants.

The goal for the second phase of Ambulantes is to give up to 800,000 migrant agricultural workers and their families access to information and services to migrate within Mexico more safely. To achieve this goal, IREX and its partners will directly distribute safe migration information to migrants and their families in the communities of origin, while also providing training resources to civil society organizations and regional governmental actors to enhance their support for internal migrants. 

IREX will also promote discussion of labor rights and safe migration through community radio across Mexico which will provide a necessary platform to amplify voices from origin communities and share lessons learned about labor and recruitment conditions in domestic agriculture to broaden awareness and inform national advocacy initiatives.

Through the Ambulantes program, IREX will empower local trusted organizations to provide prospective migrants and their families with essential information to inform their planning and decision-making on migrating safely. By equipping them with this knowledge, we aim to significantly mitigate potential risks and enhance the safety and well-being of migrant workers and their communities in Mexico, while increasing the awareness of their rights as citizens and workers.